The Short Story: It was a bittersweet end to the VCU's home schedule. A surge of offense led to 14 total runs Sunday, but the ballgame ended in defeat for the Black & Gold. On Senior Day at The Diamond, the Rams fell to the Liberty Flames by a final score of 8-6. VCU and Liberty split a two-game weekend series.

LEADING OFF

Logan Farrar paced the offense with his sixth three-hit performance of the season, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and a walk.

Paul Witt also added a multi-hit game, tying Farrar for a team-high 23rd time this season in going 2-for-5 with a double, run scored, and RBI. His current hit streak sits at nine games, and has reached base a team-high 21 games in a row.

Darian Carpenter punched in with the most total bases on the day, going 2-for-4 with a home run, double, two runs scored, and two RBI. His home run tied him for third on the VCU single-season home run list with 13, tying Jim Lewentowicz's mark from 1992. He also tied Jake Anothony for second all-time in program history.

Brett Willett connected with his third home run of the season, finishing with a 1-for-3 day.

Zac Ching chipped in with two hits as well, his 16th multi-hit game of the year, while Dylan Isquirdo added a hit as well.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a clean first inning, the flood gates opened up with runs for both sides, as Liberty struck first in the top of the second inning. A two-run home run from Will Shepard would give the Flames an early 2-0 lead.

The Rams came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning thanks to Carpenter and Willett, who went back-to-back with solo home runs to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the third inning.

The Flames came back with another pair of runs in the top of the third inning. Once again it was a two-run home run, this time from Eric Grawbowski to give Liberty a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Black & Gold would strike for a trifecta of runs, started with a Witt RBI double down the left field line. The play would score Farrar, and set up runners at second and third.

Carpenter would follow up the Witt double with a sacrifice fly out to right field, scoring Gransback and moving Witt up to third. The play would tie the game at 4-4.

After a Willett walk to put runners on the corners with two out, Zac Ching snuck in a bunt single to score Witt and give VCU a 5-4 lead heading into the fourth inning.

Ching struck again in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he dropped a single into left field, scoring Carpenter and giving the Rams a two run cushion, 6-4.

It didn't take long for Liberty to climb back into the game, as they tied it back up in the top of the sixth inning. Back-to-back RBI singles from Shepard and D.J. Artis brought the game back to 6-6.

Shepard stayed hot into the top of the eighth, as it would be his RBI double that would break the 6-6 tie, giving Liberty a 7-6 lead. A Trey McDyre RBI single added an extra run for the Flames, giving them an 8-6 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.

VCU threatened in the bottom of the eighth inning, as they were able to load the bases with two outs. However, a Gransback strikeout would end the inning.

The Rams would get a leadoff base runner in the ninth in the form of Witt, but they would get stopped there and Liberty would take the 8-6 win.

WHAT'S NEXT VCU will return to action this Thursday, May 18 as they head across town to the University of Richmond to take on the Spiders in their final Atlantic 10 series of the season. The Rams will be playing for an A-10 regular season championship, with first pitch on Thursday set for 3 p.m.